Nigerian households experienced a marginal decline in power supply, which stood at 31 percent in Q2 as against 37 percent obtained in Q1, 2019, the new power poll released by NOIPolls for the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 has shown.
The poll report released on Wednesday in Abuja by NOIPolls, Nigeria’s leading survey and polling firm, said that the decline might be attributed to the continuous breakdown of the national grid and other daunting challenges experienced at both levels of generation and transmission of electricity in Nigeria within this period.
It added that the decline in power supply has in no doubt hampered economic activities, especially of businesses whose operation depends majorly on power supply.
On the bright side, it is worthy to note that there has been a steady increase in power supply from the month of April to June 2019. This steady increase observed in Q2, 2019 could be ascribed to the rainy season as the water level in the hydroelectric power generation is within the expected capacity.
The poll results also revealed that the quarterly average cumulative hours of power supply experienced a marginal decline to stand at 9.2 hours in the Q2 from 9.6 hours in the Q1, of 2019.
According to the report, this cumulative hourly average for Q2, 2019 is a considerable far cry from 24 hours of power supply which is required for the overall progress and development of the country and its citizenry.
The report noted that the power situation in Nigeria has continued to worsen over the years despite the weighty and substantial investments in the sector by past and present administrations in the country. What is more worrying in the power conundrum is that the more money is expended in the sector, the darker the country becomes as regards to power supply.
For instance, Nigeria has expended an estimate sum of N5 trillion ($31.45 billion) in the last 20 years to generate power however, only a maximum of about 5,074 Megawatts of electricity could be generated within this period; which is still grossly inadequate and derisory.
It is also worthy of note that the national grid in Nigeria has collapsed three times in 2019 thereby plunging the country into darkness. This detrimental and undesirable event highlights a major challenge in the power sector which needs urgent attention due to its devastating effects on the country’s economy. It must also be stated that for a country of approximately 200 million Nigerians, a minimum of 30,000 megawatts of electricity need to be generated.
The report concluded that Nigeria may continue to experience challenges in power supply unless a drastic, concerted and spirited effort is put in place to upgrade the power generation and distribution, as well as pricing in the country. It is imperative that all stakeholders in the power sector and the government to revaluate the strategies set up for addressing the issue of power in Nigeria as not much progress has been recorded since the privatisation of the sector.
GIK/APA